An Activist's Guide to the TB LAM TestSeptember 2017 - The Activist's Guide to the TB LAM Test supports the uptake of the LAM test by National HIV/AIDS and TB Progams, donors, and regulators. LAM is a critically important, point-of-care diagnostic designed to detect TB in people living with HIV with low CD4 counts. The Guide provides strategies and messaging to ensure access to this vital diagnostic for people with HIV and TB.

An Activist's Protocol Review ToolkitMay 2017 – An Activist's Protocol Review Toolkit is designed to facilitate community participation in the development and review of clinical trials protocols. The three tools contained in the toolkit will help Community Advisory Boards (CABs) think through different aspects of trial design and implementation, organize feedback for the research team, and evaluate impact on study design and implementation.

No Time to Lose: G20 Leadership in TB Research Needed to End TB​March 2017--Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death, and drug-resistant forms of TB account for one in three deaths from antimicrobial resistance. TB research has received scant resources, limiting the possibility of developing the new diagnostic, treatment, and prevention options urgently needed to end TB. In this brief, TAG challenges G20 member states to collectively spend $5.8 billion on TB research and development between 2016 and 2020.

An Activist’s Guide to Tuberculosis Diagnostic Tools​February 2017 - Understanding tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is critical to understanding why the world is currently failing to end TB. Nearly half of people with TB—over 4 million per year—are undiagnosed, leaving them ill and at risk of death and with the potential to transmit disease to others. Closing this massive gap will require much better use of the current diagnostic methods, as well as research into faster, simpler, more accurate, and less expensive options.

An Activist’s Guide to Tuberculosis Diagnostic Tools provides an overview of the different tests and strategies for detecting TB, including their benefits and limitations. The guide also makes recommendations for how activists and clinicians can contribute to improved TB diagnosis.

2016 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, 2005–2015: No Time To LoseOCTOBER 25, 2016 – Tuberculosis (TB) killed 1.8 million people in 2015, making it the most deadly infectious disease worldwide, but funding for research into better TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment dropped by US$53.4 million, according to Treatment Action Group’s 2016 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, 2005–2015: No Time to Lose. In 2015, the world spent US$620.6 million on TB research and development (R&D), the lowest level of funding since 2008. This marks the second straight year that funding for TB R&D has fallen, raising doubts over whether world leaders will fulfill recent promises to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and eliminate TB by 2035.

Breakthrough: Catalyzing R&D to End TBOctober 2016 – There is great hope for ending tuberculosis (TB)—the world’s leading infectious disease—thanks to both scientific progress and increased ambition from policymakers. But achieving this goal will require more investments in research and development (R&D). With funding trends distressingly on the decline for TB R&D, political action is critical to bend the curve up toward the development of breakthrough diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines needed to realize the promise of ending TB.

AN ACTIVIST’S GUIDE TO Tuberculosis Drugs 2016 UpdateOctober 2016 – Tuberculosis (TB) has been curable for decades, but a rise in the number of people living with drugresistant TB (DR-TB) and TB/HIV coinfection challenges global targets of zero TB deaths, new infections, suffering, and stigma. Although TB and the people it affects have changed over the years, for the most part the drugs used against it have not. In 2012, bedaquiline, used to treat DR-TB, became the first new TB drug from a new class to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in over 40 years; its accelerated approval was followed in 2014 by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) conditional approval of bedaquiline and another new drug, delamanid, for the treatment of some forms of DR-TB.

Breathing Life into Flatlined U.S. Government Funding for Tuberculosis Research: FY 2017–2020 Allocations and RecommendationsJune 2016 – This policy brief provides an overview of investments made by the U.S. government and explains how increasing TB R&D funding can catalyze the development of better vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for TB. It is built upon resource tracking and reporting done by Treatment Action Group (TAG), and it recommends areas in which investments will not only fill research gaps but also provide clarity in the vision proposed by the National Action Plan and prevent the rising threat of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).

2014 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, 2005–2013. 2nd EditionOctober 22, 2014 – Reader beware: funding data presented in this report may be less encouraging than they appear. A quick glance at Treatment Action Group’s ninth annual Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends would suggest good news: funding for tuberculosis research and development (TB R&D) increased by US$37.9 million over 2012 to reach a total of $676.7 million in 2013. The foundation of the TB research enterprise, however, is shakier than at any other time since Treatment Action Group (TAG) began tracking funding levels in 2005.

An Activist’s Guide to DelamanidSeptember 23, 2014 – Delamanid (also called Deltyba), the newest drug to fight tuberculosis (TB) was approved in Europe and Japan in 2014. This guide explains what we know about the drug’s efficacy and safety. The guide describe what activists—including people with TB, researchers, and doctors who treat TB—can do to help ensure access, fair pricing, and further research.

An Activist’s Guide to Linezolid September 23, 2014 – Linezolid, an older drug important for treating some cases of drug-resistant TB, is being used more and more, and this guide summarizes the information we have on linezolid’s safety and efficacy in TB treatment. The guide describe what activists—including people with TB, researchers, and doctors who treat TB—can do to help ensure access, fair pricing, and further research.

An Activist's Guide to Tuberculosis DrugsMay 29, 2014 – TB treatment must be shorter, simpler, less toxic, and more tolerable and affordable. Activists can contribute to the development and uptake of improved TB treatment by calling attention to research, quality of medications, and access priorities. This guide provides a brief summary of safety and efficacy data for those drugs currently in use for TB (many of which have been approved for other diseases but are used off-label for TB), and suggests advocacy points for activists.

Flatlined: U.S. Government Investments in Tuberculosis Research and Development, 2009–2012March 2014 – The goal of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) as a public health threat in the United States is under threat. In 1989, the U.S. government committed to ending the TB epidemic through the formation of a national TB elimination plan. Since then, the heart of the U.S. strategy for domestic TB elimination has progressed through a combination of visionary research linked to bold implementation. As a result of this two-pronged strategy, there were only 9,951 new domestic cases of TB in 2012, the lowest level since reporting began in 1953. Yet falling funding for TB research threatens to roll back the hard-won achievements of the last two decades.

Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding TrendsAs Threat of Drug-Resistance Grows, Big Pharma Decreases Investments in TB research by 22 PercentOctober 29, 2013 – Paris, France – The 2013 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends, 2005–2012 finds that funding for tuberculosis research and development (TB R&D) dropped by US$30.4 million compared with 2011—the first time funding has fallen since TAG began tracking investments in 2005. Funding declined for diagnostic, drug, vaccine, and operational research, increasing the likelihood that new tools to fight TB will remain out of reach for the 8.7 million people who develop TB each year.

TB Quick FactsMay 10, 2013 – Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a type of bacterium (sometimes called a bug) that, for thousands of years, has caused TB disease (called consumption in the past). TB remains a major, if often unnoticed, problem today.

An Activist’s Guide to Bedaquiline (Sirturo)March 12, 2013 – People with drug-resistant TB must resort to second-line drugs, which are more toxic, less effective, and more expensive. However, in December 2012, a new drug called bedaquiline was approved for the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Bedaquiline (also known by its trade name, Sirturo, or as TMC207) is the first new drug from a new drug class to treat TB to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in over 40 years. This guide highlights important safety and efficacy data reported thus far and offers advocacy recommendations for activists to take forward.

November 14, 2012 – Now in its seventh year, TAG's Tuberculosis Research and Development: 2012 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding Trends: 2005–2011 builds on seven years of investment data to report on annual funding trends and gaps among the leading TB R&D donors. The report analyzes current spending levels across six research areas to assess how they compare to the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015 R&D funding targets.

Being Brave: Stories of Children with Drug-Resistant TuberculosisMarch 2012 - When it comes to drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), the global community is failing to “get it right.” Millions of people around the world suffer from this dangerous, yet treatable, infectious disease. Yet, in over a decade, less than 1% of those with DR-TB have been diagnosed and treated. Children bear a disproportionate burden of this disease, and are far less likely than adults with DR-TB to have access to appropriate care. This collection gives voice to the children from around the world featured in it, and to the thousands more like them who face the challenges of fighting DR-TB every day. It is also a global call to action. These stories invite all of us to join children with DR-TB and their families and caregivers in the struggle for better diagnosis and treatment. It is the first step toward “getting it right” for children with TB.

Tuberculosis Research and Development: 2011 Report on Tuberculosis Research Funding trends, 2005–2010 - 2nd EditionMarch 2012 - This is the 2nd Edition of the Treatment Action Group and Stop TB Partnership’s 2011 report on funding trends for tuberculosis (TB) research and development (R&D) from the baseline year 2005 through 2010, the last year for which full data is available. Updates to this report include new funding figures from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, and Company Y; as well as revised data from Pfizer and the European Commission. In total, these donors reported an additional $13.4 million in TB R&D funding for 2010.

Towards Lab-Free Tuberculosis Diagnosis - A strategic vision for R&D into point-of-care testing in resource-poor settingsAugust 2011 – Although most cases of TB are curable, tuberculosis causes around 2 million deaths each year, in part due to late or missed diagnosis. The control and ultimate elimination of this disease, therefore, still rests on prompt diagnosis and therapeutic intervention to reduce ongoing transmission. Improving the performance of diagnostics and their availability is therefore key to reducing global morbidity and mortality from TB and thus achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

An Evaluation of Drug-Resistant TB Treatment Scale-UpJuly 2011 – Globally in 2008 there were an estimated 440,00 cases of incident multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Despite international calls for action to reach universal access to TB treatment by 2015, governments and ministries of health in high-burden countries have not adequately progressed with scale-up. According to latest estimates from the World Health Organization(WHO), only 7% of the estimated MDR-TB cases in 2008 were reported (29,423) to WHO, and about 1% of patients were enrolled under programs to provide internationally quality-assured treatment. Of the 27 countries considered to have a high burden of MDR-TB, only13 reported treatment outcomes.

Tallying the TB vaccines in Clinical TrialsJuly 2011 – The relatively small community of researchers, policymakers and advocates involved in the search for an effective TB vaccine met in Tallinn, Estonia in September, 2010 to assess the state of the field and discuss the path forward. The sense of urgency driving this research has recently been underscored in the new Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015, which explicitly states that without a new vaccine effective against all forms of TB, the goal of eliminating TB as a public health threat by 2050 will not be met. As described by Claire Wingfield in TAG’s annual pipeline report, TB vaccine development has long languished despite the desperate global need, but there are now encouraging signs of progress. On the second day of the Global TB Vaccines Forum, researchers offered summaries of where their candidates stand on the developmental pathway.

Time for a Bold New Vision at the Stop TB PartnershipOctober 16, 2010 – Tuberculosis—a curable infectious disease—continues to cause illness in more than 9 million people annually. In the past 20 years, the global response to tuberculosis has had moments of vigour. Millions have received treatment for drug-susceptible tuberculosis, treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis has been integrated into official tuberculosis-control policies worldwide, and there have been major breakthroughs in rapid molecular diagnostics. Nevertheless, almost 2 million people die annually from tuberculosis—most in the prime of their lives—half a million of whom have HIV co-infection, and more than 150 000 have multidrug-resistant tuberculosis or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis.1

2010 Pipeline Report – Second EditionHIV, Tuberculosis, and Viral Hepatitis: Drugs, diagnostics, Vaccines, Immune-based therapies, and Preventive Technologies in DevelopmentSeptember 2010 – This year TAG collaborated with HIV i-Base UK. Simon Collins contributed an in-depth analysis of the Antiretroviral Pipeline and Polly Clayden wrote new chapters for the report on Pediatric Antiretrovirals and HIV diagnostics. The second edition includes information from the XVIII International IAS Conference in Vienna, Austria, July 2010.

Monitoring TB/HIV Indicators for UNGASS: Kenya, Uganda and ZambiaJanuary 2010 – Despite being curable, Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be the leading cause of death among people with HIV in 2008, accounting for 25% of all HIV-related deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a 12-point policy package and recommended collaborative activities to address the TB/HIV coepidemic, encompassing three interventions jointly known as the “Three I’s”: intensified TB case finding (ICF) among people with HIV, TB infection control (IC), and isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT). As part of this strategy, the UNAIDS United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) shadow reports that track compliance with the Declaration of Commitment to universal access to HIV are also required to report on the 13 TB/HIV indicators.

2009 Pipeline ReportHIV, Tuberculosis, and Viral Hepatitis: Drugs, Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Microbicides in DevelopmentJuly 2009 – TAG’s annual Pipeline Report surveys the developments in medicines and diagnostics most likely to improve the lives of people living with HIV, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis within the next few years. But in spotlighting what is in the pipeline, the report also identifies critical gaps where research is falling short of the need for better tools to manage these diseases.

Empowering Communities for TB Advocacy: The TAG-ICW Model2009 – TAG and ICW developed this model to build the capacity of Africa based HIV activists to take on TB advocacy. This publication by TAG and ICW provides activists, policy makers, and donors with lessons learned from two years of capacity building for HIV treatment activists to integrate tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV collaborative activities into their advocacy work.